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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Garden Tillers

Our tiller is on it's last leg. I got it out today, filled it with gas, a couple of pulls and it started. uh oh.... it would not go into gear. Papa Bear said the gears were frozen. He tried putting a pipe wrench on the little shaft thingy and turn it....uh oh again....it broke. He now has a pair of channel locks on it to get into into forward motion. Anyway....while the big guy was busy breaking (I mean repairing) the tiller I decided to check Sears and Lowe's to see what they had and see if we could squeeze another one into the budget.

Now this time of year in northwest Florida, Sears and Lowes usually have tillers out of the ying yang, all lined up outside the stores and inside on display. Not today. I checked the web site of stores with-in 100 miles and all are showing sold out of the rear tine which is what I want (I don't think anyone could give me a front tine). I called Sears to see if maybe the web site wasn't updated and to see if they had one in stock. After 3 calls someone finally answered who wouldn't have known a tiller if it ran him down. A few more minutes on hold he came back and told me they didn't have a rear tine but they had an electric tiller with an edger. I have no idea what he was talking about. I went back to Sears web site and after putting one in the cart was informed that it could not be delivered to the store for pick up but for an additional $65.00 it could be delivered to my home in 2 to 7 days. What's up with that? I am ready to plant my potatoes today! Anyone else seeing items like this selling out so fast at the start of the season. Makes one wonder what else is going to be sold out that I really need.

I did not order one as I do not know if I would even get it in 2 to 7 days. I am going to use the one that is chugging along with a pair of channel locks to change the gears until it dies completely. :0)

5 comments:

Albert A Rasch said...

Before you go and spend a zillion dollars on a new rear tine tiller, it might be that the shear pin busted off. The thing to do is get the gearbox loose, and find where the sheer pin may be installed, and put a new one in. After getting the gears moving, that is.

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
Proud Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit
Southeast Regional OBS Coordinator

Unknown said...

Big Bend FL here, hoping to get our potatoes in the ground tonight, want to make one more pass with the tiller before plugging them in the ground!! I am kind of new to gardening, hope to see updates as to what, how, when etc, you are planting. Hope to pick up some tips! :)

Thanks again! great blog!

Mamma Bear said...

Albert...it was too late to do anything when the big guy put the pipe wrench on the shaft and broke it!

John...I will be doing an update on our plot in the next day or two. Good Luck with your "taters"!

CherB said...

I'm envious that you can start planting already! My daughter lives in florida and tells me how wonderful the weather is. I have my potatoes growing in the cellar begging to be planted but I have a couple feet of snow on the ground..sigh..
I can hope. Our potatoes will just be getting good when the heat of your summer arrives. I usually reach in and take a few of the larger ones but don't dig up all my potatoes until I have to before the ground freezes. If you get a chance; stop by New York Preppers and read my article about seed saving. I enjoyed the visit!
Cher

Mamma Bear said...

Cher... In NW Florida our night time weather is still freezing a few nights a week but we are getting into the 70's during the day. The only thing safe to plant now is the root crops. My other seedlings are where they are warm and waiting for safe weather. I am so ready for steady warm weather!

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